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[Burnt Pies]

: Hey, uh, don't forget about me, fellas

Oh right, got distracted by the one-liner.

A moustache that imposing deserves corresponding authority! Give him a leadership position somewhere.

I Concur. That's a pretty good moustache.

[Sirus]

I'm sorry folks, but no update today. I'll hopefully have some time tomorrow.

After that, dunno. We've got to use him for something, though, as he is the perfect age. What areas still have open space, and how much?

The following slots are empty (sorted by location, with relevant skill in parenthesis):

• Bridge: 1st Officer (Leadership), Assistant Operator (Control)
• Navigation: Helmsman (Navigation), Chart Officer (Navigation)
• Fire Control: Handler (Artillery), Radar Operator (Control)
• Engineering: Assistant Engineer (Maintenance), Chief Responder (Maintenance)
• Maintenance: Assistant Mechanic (Maintenance)
• R&D: Researcher (Science)
• Fighters: Squads 1, 2, and 3 Chiefs (Piloting)
• Ship Management: Chief Accountant (Management), Accountant (Management), Supply Officer (Management), Head Chef (Management). Security Chief (Combat) is also empty, but I'm trying to keep Yuri in that slot.
  

[Frumple]

Head chief, then, at least until (unless) someone better at it comes along.

[Sheb]

I'd have him as Chief Responder.

[Burnt Pies]

Moustache of authority, guys. Gotta be 1st Officer.

[MarcAFK]

That's a pretty good qualification for 1st officer, Commander Riker can attest To the power of the mo.

The space bitches love it.
But seriously make him Chief responder or some other Maintence job.

[Sirus]

Part 22: Choo-choo!

Welcome back! Last time, we shot up some pirates and decided that yes, we are gonna go shoot some more.

Spoiler: Rescue (click to show/hide)

: Yes, we can make it on our own. We've fought pirates in the past, you know.

: All right, then. Fine. I'll grant permission for you to pass through to Mytilene. I'll have it all prearranged.

: But, Commander! Are you sure you want to do that, sir?!

: What else can we do? I don't like the idea of involving private citizens in all of this either...Yuri, was it? Please be very careful, and I wish you the best of luck. Please don't do anything too reckless.

: I won't, sir. Thank you, Commander.

Before taking off. I take a few seconds to toss Loukas into the Chief Responder slot. Very narrow vote, but Engineering/Maintenance seemed to be the most popular answer. And now, we go!





In order to reach the Spider Web, we must follow this path from Heraklion. Once we get past that point, it's mostly a clear shot to Mytilene and the dead void gate.

At the first empty sector, we run into these guys:



Thankfully, they part ranks to let us through. This is the Security Agency blockade, and it appears that Commander Ioannov sent them word like he said. Moving on to the next empty sector!

: Yuri, we're getting a distress signal.

: A distress signal? Here? Can you tell where it's coming from?

: It's close by. Somewhere up ahead.



Eeek.

: It looks like the pirates got 'em. I just can't believe they made it all this way in a ship like that!

: What do you want to do, Yuri?

: They put out a distress signal. We should see if there are any survivors.

: All right! In that case, me and Ian will go have a look-see. Ian, you know how to do exterior work, don't ya?

: O-Of course I do! I've just never done it before...



Later, back on the bridge.

: Man, I never thought we'd find someone alive in this mess!

: You found a survivor?

: Yep. We thought it was a dead body. But then it moved, so we thought, maybe not. Oh! But then Ian here-- *thud!* Ow!

: In any case, she was pretty shaken up, so we put her in a room to rest. Tatiana is looking after her now. She doesn't seem to be badly injured, so we can probably expect a full recovery soon.

: We can? Well that's good news. So what did you do, Ian? Did you scream like a baby?

: ...

*punch!*

: Gah!

Spoiler: The Spider Web lives up to it's name (click to show/hide)

Yuri and friends enter the Spider Web sector, with confidence!

: Yuri, a fleet is approaching ahead. They're going to attack!

: It's the Kreios Pirates. Take evasive action and get ready for battle!



Ugh, I miss Elgava. At least that place had some variety in it's pirate battles. They go down easily, but not before taking a potshot at the ESTHER for minor damage. At least Nia and Roubis level up.

: More pirates are approaching! At two o'clock!

: They just keep on coming! I guess the Kreios Pirates are a bigger deal than I thought!

Pshah. Bring it on, bring it on! What's the worst they can throw at me, anyway?





Ahahahahahahahaha! Oh no, one extra cruiser, how horrifying!
Alright, to give them credit, they managed to do a reasonable amount of damage to the LOTUS, thanks to the pirates firing off Normal attacks as often as possible, rather than save up for a Barrage or attempting to dodge. Still, it was a pretty easy fight.

: Yuri, they've got reinforcements! Twenty...thirty...They just keep coming!

What? NO! This is bullcrap! I call hax!

: There's no end to 'em. They're way beyond anything we ever saw in Elgava, and that goes for weapons and scale to boot!

: I hate to admit it, but I think I might've been a little overconfident here.

: So does it look like we won't be able to make it to Mytilene?

: I'm sorry, Professor. I don't think we should try to go any further right now.

: I see...I guess you're right. We won't get much research done if we're dead.

: I'm sorry. But don't worry. We'll find a way! All right, full-speed retreat!

Noooooo...

Spoiler: Long-Distance Relationships (click to show/hide)

And so we head back to Heraklion. Just as we enter the dock, we see this scene.

: Yuri, Rhea wants to talk to you.

: Rhea? Who's that?

: That woman we rescued from the wreckage of that ship.

: Oh, okay.

: Are you Yuri, the captain? My name is Rhea Loizou. I don't know how I can thank you enough. You saved my life.

: You don't have to thank me. We just happened to come along. But what were you doing in a dangerous place like that?

: Yes, I'd like to talk to you about that, actually. Could we talk sometime, when you have a free moment?

: Oh. Yeah, sure.

: I told her about what we're doing, and she says she'd like to help. She's had a lot of experience aboard ships. What do you think?

: I think that'd be great! Welcome aboard, Rhea!

: Thank you, Captain. I look forward to working with you.

Rhea joined your crew!



Here she is. She's sadly a little sub-par in terms of numbers. However, her AA Genius skill gives the fleet a bonus to anti-air attacks if she is assigned to an Artillery post.

Anyway, we can have a chat with Rhea in the tavern on the surface. Let's go ahead and get that out of the way.

: So Rhea, you were going to tell me what you were doing in that dangerous area.

: I was traveling. Actually, I've been traveling all over the sea of stars for a while now, looking for my boyfriend, Leo. He was a fire control system developer. But after perfecting the Oort Interception System for the prison planet Skantzoura, he just disappeared! I've got to find him! So while I work here as part of your ship's crew, I'm going to keep up my search.

So there you have it. Our girl Rhea here is in lurve

Spoiler: Back on track (click to show/hide)

Well, since we can't get past the pirates, we better head back to Veroia to see if the Security Agency dudes have any advice.

: So how did it look? Do you think you can make it to Mytilene on your own?

This time, I selected "not so confident".

: I see...Well, in that case, would you consider helping us out with an operation we have planned? I know it's asking a lot of you, but I'm afraid this operation is our only hope for dealing with the Kreios Pirates.

: We'll do it. Unless we do something about those pirates, we won't be able to get to Mytiline.

: All right, then. Ensign Pappas will fill you in on the details of the operation. Let's see. You can talk in the--

: Let's talk somewhere where we can relax. This isn't really a discussion we can have inside this building.

: I suppose you're right. Yes, that would probably be safer, over all.

: We'll meet you in the tavern, then. Come on, Delis.

: Right behind you.

*With a wave, Pappas and Delis leave the room*

Spoiler: Shaken, not stirred (click to show/hide)

With nothing else to do, Yuri and co head to the tavern. Delis doesn't say much, just bemoans the fact that private citizens are forced to get involved, and tells you to speak to Pappas. So let's do that.

: Oh, there you are! Come relax and have a drink with me, won't you?

: But we're underage.

: Ha ha! So order a glass of milk or something. But this pretty lady is old enough, isn't she?

: Look, we don't have all day here. Just get to the point, will ya?

: Aw, don't be that way, pretty lady! We oughta get to know each other a little better before we--

: Get to the point, Mac. Or are ya tired of having your teeth in your mouth?

: Ahem! All right, I get your drift! I was just trying to be friendly...Okay, getting straight to the point, then. How much do you know about the Kreios Pirates?

: Well, let's see. We heard their leader, Kreios, was apprehended about a year ago. And that their rival is a pirate named Celina Sioufas.

: You know enough, then. That should make things easy. The problem is that the power of Kreios Pirates hasn't been curtailed one bit by the arrest of their leader. In fact, now they have even more ships than before! We're embarrassed to admit it, but they've grown to such a scale, the Security Agency can no longer handle them.

: Wow, that's gotta be pretty tough to admit.

: Can't you get the regular military to help you?

: Nah, those Volos guys are useless. They just say it's our jurisdiction.

: Sounds like a whole lot of head butting, if ya ask me.

: To their credit, I guess they do have their hands full with defending the border from Nova Nacio. And I guess they can't really act unless they have a government-level order. Anyway, that's how we came to the conclusion that we were going to have to fight fire with fire.

: What do you mean by that?

: We're going to try to make a deal with Celina and have her help us take down their leader, Kreios.

: Huh?

: You're gonna make a deal with a pirate?

: Are you sure that's a good idea?

: Nope. Not sure at all.

: Sounds way too risky to me!

: Yup. Probably way too risky.

: ...

: But we don't have any choice at this point. The Kreios Pirates are getting bigger and more powerful every day. And if we don't do something fast, then this junction sector, the shipping hub of Kalymnos, will be completely wiped out.

: All right, I'm following you so far, but what do you want us to do to help?

: We want you to negotiate with Celina, and convince her to cooperate with us. She'd never agree to talk to us Security Agency guys directly. For her cooperation, we're willing to tear up all her arrest warrants, for every sector in Kalymnos, and wipe out all criminal charges that are more than three years old.
All 20,000 of them.

: I dunno. Do you really think a kick-ass pirate like her is gonna go for a deal like that?

: That's the best we can offer her, I'm afraid. I mean, we're the Security Agency. We can hardly pay her a reward, right?

: Where can we find her?

: She can usually be found in the area around the resource planet, Zante. There are a lot of upper-rank Kreios Pirates in that area that target the mining transport ships.

: And then, in turn, Celina targets the pirates, is that right? A pirate food chain, if you will.

: All right, we'll try to convince her.

: Thank you, and good luck! If you manage to talk to her, come to the Security Agency and let us know how it went. Oh, and here's a map to the ship design company on Volos. It might be a good idea to check it out.

Hell yeah!
We can talk to Delis again, if we want. He says that while Celina doesn't murder innocents, she's still very, very dangerous. Yuri does not find this particularly helpful.

Spoiler: New Toys (click to show/hide)

One more thing, and then I'll call this update quits. We've got four, count 'em, four new ship designs to purchase, and for once they are somewhat interesting!



First up is the Pallas-class battleship. This thing has the potential to be a beast: five weapon slots (the maximum for any ship) and very high anti-ship firepower, plus thicker armor than the Borodino. However, it is slower and has less durability than the Borodino, not to mention it breaks the bank at a cost of 18,500G.
It does, however, have a special ability: Super Long Range. I must admit, I'm not entirely sure what it does. My guess is that either it's a passive range-boosting ability, or a special attack that has longer range than normal attacks.



Next we have the Eudora-class cruiser. Cousin to Balik's flagship the last time we fought him, this one sadly does not come with a multi-hit missile.
The Eudora is very much like a somewhat slower, slightly tougher version of the Askold. It even has the ability to launch fighters.



Thirdly, we have the Zephyr-class cruiser. The ship for captains on a budget, it has lower stats than the Eudora in most categories (except anti-air and battle speed) and doesn't get fighter capacity or special abilities. Unless you were really hurting for anti-air power, I'm not sure why you'd want this when the Eudora is only about an extra 1,000G.



Last but not least, we have the Kalliope-class destroyer. Like the Zephyr, it has no special abilities or fighter capacity. It does, however, have the best anti-ship firepower of any destroyer in our possession so far, with a decent amount of durability to match. However, it (like all Kalymnos ships, it seems) is slower than an equivalent Elgavan ship and has shorter range.

Well, I'll save the next bit for tomorrow. No real difficult choices to make this time, just find a place for our newest crew member and tune in.

Also, just as a friendly reminder, be sure to pipe up if you see a ship you really want, so I can start saving money if needed. Our fleet is good for now, but a little variety never hurt anyone.

[Sheb]

Set her as radar operator, will you? And I must say, this Pallas does look cool...

[monk12]

Set her as radar operator, will you? And I must say, this Pallas does look cool...

+1 on both counts

[Jarod Cain]

Radio op sounds good to me.

Also while we probably should be saving some money, with the upcoming battles we'll probably need something like the Pallas. I vote to get one and make it our new flagship. Also, the super-long range if memory serves was a single blast cannon special attack that can hit from the opposite side of the screen. Problem is that weapon effectively has only an extreme range so it won't attack with the other weapons in normal range. This means that the Pallas will really only be using four weapons on a standard attack.
-J-

[MarcAFK]

The super long range Only works as long as the Pallas is your command ship, and yeah it hogs up one of your weapon slots so you really only get 4 weapons for normal use, also:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

 I think i remember it does something like 200 damage to every enemy ship and lags your command bar for a few seconds.

[Sirus]

I guess I'm not surprised by Rhea's placing, but I didn't anticipate such a strong response for the Pallas

Well, it looks like the RUSALKA can be sold for enough money to purchase a Pallas and upgrade it fairly well. Should I do that or save up enough cash?

Also, think of names. Remember, there is no theme for battleships. Just pick something suitably epic and/or awesome.

[Frumple]

Names it Luggage.

[Sheb]

^^

This. And don't sell the Rusalka please. But no need to buy the Pallas immediately, just save up as you go on.

[Korbac]

The HMS Plant Pot.

Really enjoying the lp so far!